Ooh, aah, it's Glenn McGrath

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Glenn McGrath of Australia who took a career best 8/24 with team mate Justin Langer who was of the match with scores of 191 and 97 in the rooms after day four of the First Test between Australia and Pakistan.Photo: Getty Images

The Australian cricket team that defeated Pakistan by 491 runs
at Perth's WACA ground yesterday lands in Melbourne this week for
the Boxing Day Test, having reduced another touring team to
rubble.

It was a peerless performance from a team that continues to
crash through Test cricket's records and to enhance its reputation
as one of the greatest sides.

Opener Justin Langer, whose quest for self-improvement has
produced spectacular results, scored more runs than the Pakistan
team. Glenn McGrath produced the best performance of his 104-Test
career with 8-24. It was also the second-best by an Australian in a
Test innings. Arthur Mailey took 9-121 against England in 1920-21.
Australia's victory was the fourth-biggest win by any team in terms
of runs.

Pakistan was reduced to its fourth-lowest total when it was
skittled for 72. The three lower scores were also against
Australia.

Despite concerns about its age, this Australian side continues
to find ways of digging itself out of occasional worrying
predicaments. On day one of the Test, temperamental but brilliant
Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar conspired with the young and fast
Mohammad Sami to reduce the hosts to 5-78.

But the size of yesterday's victory and the lack of a contest
has pundits casting their minds forward to next winter for the
Ashes series when Australia meets a rejuvenated England, its most
able opponent.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said yesterday there was no
overstating the Australian team's skill. But he expressed concern
about the state of cricket if the fourth-ranked team, Pakistan, was
so clearly unable to compete with the best team in the world.

"I think that is a bit of a worry," Ponting said after a
McGrath-led Australia bowled Pakistan out before lunch on the
fourth day of the Test.

"The last time we played them (in Sharjah in 2002) we beat them
quite convincingly as well. It's hard to take a lot out of this
game because the conditions here are so different to what they're
used to and what they've played on.

"But it is a bit of a concern that they're the fourth-ranked
side and they've been bowled out very cheaply in these
conditions."

Yesterday's result follows Australia's 2-0 thrashing of New
Zealand, which prompted Kiwi captain Stephen Fleming to say that
Australia's unchallenged dominance was sending tremors through
world cricket.

"You take any win as it comes," Ponting said.

"There's no doubt about it, it's more satisfying winning a very
hard-fought and tight match of any sort, a one-day game or a Test
match, and we haven't probably had a lot of those of late, but once
again that says a lot about this team. It's strange, you go into
that New Zealand Test series a few weeks ago and everyone was
predicting that we would have a bit of a stumble after such a big
series win in India.

"That certainly wasn't the case. We played very well in that
series and everyone was probably expecting a very close encounter
here with Pakistan's fast bowlers.

"But we've performed exceedingly well. That's all we can keep
doing. Hopefully, we can keep improving."